G’Day! I’m writing this on a day off in Sydney and it’s weird as I’ve been here nearly a week and only done two gigs, infact of the time I’ve been here I’ve spent over 24 hours flying. This Australian tour is all about airports and super friendly Virgin staff, a lot of hotel rooms and a lot of time alone. This is is totally different from how it was on the ‘Electric 13’ American tour and how it will be on the British one coming up later this month because on those we’re all together on the tour bus, hardly any time off and a lot more in each others pockets. Even though I’ve had more time off on this leg I don’t tend to get distracted with sight seeing and stuff as for me the gigs are the peak experience and I like to stay focused on them.
The set for the two dates so far (Perth and Brisbane) has been slightly different to the one we played in the States as we didn’t have the intermission with the film so played straight through in one extended set. But the film will be back for Sydney and Melbourne so we’ll be playing the two sets again with ‘Electric’ followed by a ‘Choice of Weapon’ and Hits set.
The last time I was here was for the ‘Love Live’ tour in 2010, though we had tried to get here during the ‘Choice of Weapon’ tour but unfortunately things didn’t align so this has become a tour that sort of combines both ‘Choice of Weapon’ and the ‘Electric’ stuff.
With this tour only being four dates it made sense to hire in a backline for each gig rather than fly the full equipment over here. So far so good and nothing’s blown up yet! The gear I’ve bought with me is stripped down to my core items, for guitars I’ve got my Signature White Falcon, my Gold Top Les Paul and my brand new Custom Shop Les Paul. Then I’ve got my effects pedal board and wireless guitar system and that’s it.
The new Les Paul it has a very different sound to the other one, it’s a lot bassier, in fact all my Les Pauls are different and they all have their own characteristics.
So I’m just trying it out on a couple of songs in the second half of the set at the moment. To use a football analogy it’s like getting a new player for your team, you don’t put them in from the beginning of the first game. I’m just easing it in. It plays great but tonally it needs to be spot on and with it being different amps every night I don’t want too many variables. But expect to see more of it soon.
Just like the States tour one of the highlights for me has been the VIP meet n greet sessions for soundcheck and before the gig. We’ve had load of people turn up for those and they’ve been really loyal and enthusiastic. Actually the whole crowds have been fantastic and full of passion for our music and I love playing here.
Before signing off I’ve got to say I absolutely love The Cult surf board that Ian has created and that’s just been released while we’ve been over here. I especially like that it’s inspiration came from ‘Apocalypse Now’ which is one of my favorite films ever!
‘Take it easy’
x b
2nd October 2013
